Parliament declares a Climate Emergency

Last night, Parliament declared a climate emergency, making the UK the first country to do so. It’s thanks to people’s campaigning that climate change has been placed so high on the political agenda. In yesterday’s debate on the Labour motion, I raised the harmful environmental impact of our food system and challenged all politicians who profess to care about climate change to reduce their meat consumption. When I first raised the damaging impact that the livestock sector is having, some ten years ago, I was met with outright hostility, so it’s good these issues are now being discussed more widely. Today, the Committee on Climate Change has released its report setting out how the UK can reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. It has a list of proposals, such as bringing forward the end date for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from the current date of 2040 to 2030, but in other areas could have been more radical – including reducing emissions from our food system.

Last night, Parliament declared a climate emergency, making the UK the first country to do so. It’s thanks to people’s campaigning that climate change has been placed so high on the political agenda.

In yesterday’s debate on the Labour motion, I raised the harmful environmental impact of our food system and challenged all politicians who profess to care about climate change to reduce their meat consumption. When I first raised the damaging impact that the livestock sector is having, some ten years ago, I was met with outright hostility, so it’s good these issues are now being discussed more widely.

Today, the Committee on Climate Change has released its report setting out how the UK can reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. It has a list of proposals, such as bringing forward the end date for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from the current date of 2040 to 2030, but in other areas could have been more radical – including reducing emissions from our food system.